--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Over the waves, with the wind behind her…" description: "\"“Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance...”\" — Seamus Heaney" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png" --- # Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her… ![“Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance...” quote by Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png) > ““Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance...”” [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vessel moves swiftly like a bird, propelled by wind and foam, covering distance. **In simple terms:** A boat moves fast like a bird. Key Takeaway Embrace momentum to progress quickly. Themes movement freedom nature Mood reflective poetic Type inspirational literary When to use this quote - sailing - travel - personal growth Key Concepts metaphor poetry Questions to Reflect On - What winds propel you forward? - How do you navigate calm seas? A Different Perspective Wind may not always be favorable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“My words flew like birds into a pane of glass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/my-words-flew-like-birds-into-a-pane-of-glass/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [“The ship flew like a penguin, lingering for an all too brief moment in a medium it secretly yearned for in its heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffery-russell/the-ship-flew-like-a-penguin-lingering-for-an-all-too-brief-moment-in/) Jeffery Russell > [She flew like a bird, only faster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvin-m-johnston/she-flew-like-a-bird-only-faster/) Alvin M. Johnston > [Always be like a water. Float in the times of pain or dance like waves along the wind which touches its surface.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santosh-kalwar/always-be-like-a-water-float-in-the-times-of-pain-or-dance-like-waves/) [Santosh Kalwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santosh-kalwar/) > [“A new generation of satellites carries highly sensitive radars that can measure the size of waves on the water surface. Making use of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cliff-mass/a-new-generation-of-satellites-carries-highly-sensitive-radars-that/) Cliff Mass > [“Kuan Yin is showing me picture of a windsurfer skimming effortlessly along the ocean's surface," describes Ms. Lees. "While quite skilled, he is nevertheless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-bradford/kuan-yin-is-showing-me-picture-of-a-windsurfer-skimming-effortlessly/) [Hope Bradford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-bradford/) > [There are the waves and there is the wind, seen and unseen forces. Everyone has these same elements in their lives, the seen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kuan-yin/there-are-the-waves-and-there-is-the-wind-seen-and-unseen-forces/) Kuan Yin > [“Then right before my eyes, she flew. She actually flew like a bird. No, she flew as a young girl might fly, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/then-right-before-my-eyes-she-flew-she-actually-flew-like-a-bird-no/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [With the wings of a bird and the heart of a man he compass'd his flight, And the cities and seas, as he flew,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rhys/with-the-wings-of-a-bird-and-the-heart-of-a-man-he-compass-d-his/) Ernest Rhys > [“Stop that! What were you doing, perched on the window ledge like a big chicken?" Despite his aches and irritations, he couldn't help but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/stop-that-what-were-you-doing-perched-on-the-window-ledge-like-a-big/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [“Then birds flew up like a shower of sparks, I followed them with my eyes and saw how they rose in a single breath,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/then-birds-flew-up-like-a-shower-of-sparks-i-followed-them-with-my/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is a movie that I just find flawless. Jack Nicholson... I just saw 'The Shining' again the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-biehn/one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest-is-a-movie-that-i-just-find-flawless/) [Michael Biehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-biehn/) > [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [As if she had summoned them, a flurry of stones flew out of the darkness, striking his mail, pinging off his helm. One hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilari-bell/as-if-she-had-summoned-them-a-flurry-of-stones-flew-out-of-the/) [Hilari Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilari-bell/) > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) ## More by Seamus Heaney > [You had to come back to learn how to lose yourself, to be pilot and stray-witch, Hansel and Gretel in one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-had-to-come-back-to-learn-how-to-lose-yourself-to-be-pilot-and/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [If self is a location, so is love: Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points, Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance, Here and there and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/if-self-is-a-location-so-is-love-bearings-taken-markings-cardinal/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I'm very conscious that people dear to me are alive in my imagination - poets in particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-m-very-conscious-that-people-dear-to-me-are-alive-in-my-imagination/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Once I was on the job, once I had got started, I felt safe enough, but the anticipation made me tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/once-i-was-on-the-job-once-i-had-got-started-i-felt-safe-enough-but/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [You can have Irish identity in the north and also have your Irish passport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/you-can-have-irish-identity-in-the-north-and-also-have-your-irish/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [The external reality and inner dynamic of happenings in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1974 were symptomatic of change, violent change admittedly, but change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/the-external-reality-and-inner-dynamic-of-happenings-in-northern/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Hope for a great sea-change timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/hope-for-a-great-sea-change-timid-to-rebuke-and-too-petty-to-forgive/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [One of the very first poems I wrote was Docker That fist would drop a hammer on a Catholic and one of the sturdiest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/one-of-the-very-first-poems-i-wrote-was-docker-that-fist-would-drop-a/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Anything Can Happen is also, incidentally, a poem that arose from teaching. I'd talked about the Horace Ode (I, 34) \[on which the poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/anything-can-happen-is-also-incidentally-a-poem-that-arose-from/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Poetry is always slightly mysterious, and you wonder what is your relationship to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/poetry-is-always-slightly-mysterious-and-you-wonder-what-is-your/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Sink every impulse like a bolt. Secure The bastion of sensation. Do not waver Into language. Do not waver in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/sink-every-impulse-like-a-bolt-secure-the-bastion-of-sensation-do-not/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [Two buckets were easier carried than one. / I grew up in between.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/two-buckets-were-easier-carried-than-one-i-grew-up-in-between/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [I suppose I'm saying that defiance is actually part of the lyric job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/i-suppose-i-m-saying-that-defiance-is-actually-part-of-the-lyric-job/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [“It is said that once upon a time St. Kevin was kneeling with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/it-is-said-that-once-upon-a-time-st-kevin-was-kneeling-with-his-arms/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) > [My father and mother had no sense of entitlement for their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/my-father-and-mother-had-no-sense-of-entitlement-for-their-children/) [Seamus Heaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) [Explore all 214 Seamus Heaney quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/) ## More Flew quotes > [You cannot ... transmute some incoherent mixture of words into sense merely by introducing the three-letter word "God" to be its grammatical subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-flew/you-cannot-transmute-some-incoherent-mixture-of-words-into-sense/) [Antony Flew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-flew/) > [As if she had summoned them, a flurry of stones flew out of the darkness, striking his mail, pinging off his helm. One hit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilari-bell/as-if-she-had-summoned-them-a-flurry-of-stones-flew-out-of-the/) [Hilari Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilari-bell/) > [As for the piano, the faster her fingers flew over it, the more he marveled. She struck the keys with aplomb and ran from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/as-for-the-piano-the-faster-her-fingers-flew-over-it-the-more-he/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is a movie that I just find flawless. Jack Nicholson... I just saw 'The Shining' again the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-biehn/one-flew-over-the-cuckoo-s-nest-is-a-movie-that-i-just-find-flawless/) [Michael Biehn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-biehn/) > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“Imagine what I could have done in ten years. I could have learned to speak Japanese. I could have played every RPG video game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/imagine-what-i-could-have-done-in-ten-years-i-could-have-learned-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I get really nervous if pigeons are flying around before shows. I can't stand them after one once flew in through my bathroom window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-horan/i-get-really-nervous-if-pigeons-are-flying-around-before-shows-i-can/) [Niall Horan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-horan/) > [Gauguin flew into a frenzy! He held my head under the X-ray machine for ten straight minutes and for several hours after I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/gauguin-flew-into-a-frenzy-he-held-my-head-under-the-x-ray-machine/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) > [I wrapped a movie called 'Zombieland,' in which I was constantly under assault by zombies, then flew to New York, still very much in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/i-wrapped-a-movie-called-zombieland-in-which-i-was-constantly-under/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky. So up to the house-top…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clement-clarke-moore/as-dry-leaves-that-before-the-wild-hurricane-fly-when-they-meet-with/) [Clement Clarke Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clement-clarke-moore/) > [He with a graceful pride, While his rider every hand survey'd, Sprung loose, and flew into an escapade; Not moving forward, yet with every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/he-with-a-graceful-pride-while-his-rider-every-hand-survey-d-sprung/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [That's right. You'll like Owl. He flew past a day or two ago and noticed me. He didn't actually say anything, mind you, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-s-right-you-ll-like-owl-he-flew-past-a-day-or-two-ago-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Wright brothers flew through the smoke screen of impossibility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-brande/the-wright-brothers-flew-through-the-smoke-screen-of-impossibility/) [Dorothea Brande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-brande/) > [ When we were making it \[Star Wars\], none of the effects were in. So the first time, I thought it was, you know, that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harrison-ford/when-we-were-making-it-star-wars-none-of-the-effects-were-in-so-the/) [Harrison Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harrison-ford/) > [The ones as big as sheep were easier to avoid, because you could see them coming, but when they flew in at the window…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-nesbit/the-ones-as-big-as-sheep-were-easier-to-avoid-because-you-could-see/) [E. Nesbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-nesbit/) Browse all 456 Flew quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow had covered the distance...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seamus Heaney" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her-and-foam-at-her-neck-she-flew/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Flew" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her-and-foam-at-her-neck-she-flew/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/921/seamus-heaney-1711_flew_over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her_1901004.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Over the waves, with the wind behind her and foam at her neck, she flew like a bird until her curved prow…” — Seamus Heaney", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Seamus Heaney", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seamus-heaney/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Over the waves, with the wind...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her-and-foam-at-her-neck-she-flew/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seamus-heaney/over-the-waves-with-the-wind-behind-her-and-foam-at-her-neck-she-flew/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```